Laser lines vs. LED projected lines for warehouses—what's the best option for you?

If you are looking for ways to create a walkway within your warehouse and you have been looking at lasers and LED line projectors, then you are probably unsure of what the best option is for you.
As a supplier of lasers and LED projectors, we have written this article to make it easier for you as the buyer to make a decision on which is the best option for you. In this article, we will cover the following:
- What is an LED floor marking projector?
- What is a Laser line marking projector?
- Which type of projector is the cheapest to buy
- Which projector type has the lowest running costs?
- Which has the widest range of colour options?
- Which one has the longest warranty?
- Which one is the safest option?
- How do I choose the best one for me?
What is an LED floor marking projector?
An LED floor line marking projector is a powerful LED light source that is channelled through a special lens called a Gobo. This light source projects a line and it is usually designed to give a specific width and length at a given height. These projectors are available in a wide range of power ratings from 25 W up to 300 W, but typically a 50 W projector is used for these applications.
What is a laser floor line marking projector?
Similar to an LED floor line marking projector, a laser line projector casts a beam of light in a straight line onto your warehouse floor. As with the LED line marking projectors, these are normally done in pairs to create two lines to make a defined safe walkway, within your warehouse.
Which type of projector is cheapest to buy?
On paper, an LED floor marking projector is the lower cost option, these can vary from £500-£1000 each, whereas a laser line projector can cost around £1400. However, in most scenarios an LED projector will cast a line of up to 6m as opposed to a Laser line projector that can cast a minimum 20m line and sometimes over 30m. If you have a lot of directional changes within your warehouse an LED projector may offer the best value for money but if you are projecting two straight lines over a 100m span then a laser line will be the most cost-effective way of doing this especially when you consider power consumption as well.
Laser line vs. LED projected line: Which is the cheapest to run?
While running costs are not usually high on the agenda for customers wanting to make their warehouse significantly safer, it should be factored in when comparing the two technologies side-by-side. Laser is a highly efficient and effective light source being almost 100% efficient. Here at Clarity our Laser projectors are typically 17 W each. This means a 17 W input generates 17 W of light.
An LED line projector is usually a minimum of 50 W however an LED light source often only has an efficiency of around 10% which means that the output is around 5 W.
As previously mentioned, for 100 meter long line, this would need to be done using five laser projectors (four could be used depending on the brightness of your factory and the ceiling height) this means to create a 100 m long Laser line, 85 W worth of projectors are needed.
To create a 100 meter long line with an LED projector system will require 17 50 W projectors which equates to 850 W, this is a tenfold increase in energy consumption.
LED vs. Laser, which has the highest range of colour options?
One of the downsides to Laser projected floor markings is that they are only available in three colours; red, green, and blue. An LED projector floor marking is available in a much wider range colours including white, yellow and orange. If colour is critical for you then an LED projector may well be your best option. As a general rule green is the most effective colour as it is the most visible to the human eye.
Which type of projector has the best warranty?
Not all projectors are made equal. Here Clarity we source all of our products from European suppliers as we have seen premature failures with Chinese made products and serious overheating issues. Our LED projectors are manufactured in Italy and have a five year warranty. Our Laser line projectors have a two year warranty which is still significantly higher than most LED projectors on the market, but not as good as the Progtech LED projectors.
Which type of projector is the safest?
Did your mom ever tell you ‘Never look directly at the sun’? This is because the sun is so bright that it can cause long-term retina damage. So what about laser projectors?
We often get asked “are laser line projector safe?” The answer is no, not from a close range. Laser line projectors have a safety rating of 2 which is classed as safe, a rating of 3 requires special eye protection. With Clarity Laser line projectors - this type of laser is called a ‘diffused laser’ meaning that it is a powerful light source which is ‘spread’ through a diffuser. At close range - the Clarity lasers are classified as a class 3R laser however, and here’s the big difference, because it is a diffused laser - it is only a class 3 laser if eye-contact is within 1.5M, after which it becomes a class 2 laser which is relatively safe. Many construction tools use lasers rated to class 3.
LED projectors do not have a classification level and are generally safe. Staring directly at an LED light source or a laser light source is not advised and can cause headaches especially with prolonged staring.
How do I choose the best line projector for me?
The best way to choose a line projector is to answer a few simple questions…
Long straight runs? Laser
Lowest running costs? Laser
Multiple changes in direction (Shorter lengths than 10M) LED
Specific colour requirements other than green or red? LED
Seeing is believing! If I had a fiver for every time a customer said ‘Wow, I didn't expect it to be that good’, I’d be a rich man! Contact us today! - We have a laser projector which can be run from a battery source if you want to try it in your site.